Solemn Faces

I just started re-reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, after reading it in 5th grade and not really understanding it. So far, Liesel and her brother, who just died, are on the train to Munich where they're being adopted by foster parents. Liesel is sad because of her brother dying, and the discrimination because of Religion. 

The mood of the book so far is just an overall glum grey fog. Obviously, after Liesel's brother dies she has every right to be sad, and was expected to be sad anyway. The snow doesn't engulf the town and make it glimmer, it just makes it cold and sad. "Somewhere in the snow she could see her broken heart, in two pieces. ... She was being dragged away. A warm scream filled her throat." I think this very accurately portrays exactly how Liesel and the rest of Munich must feel because of the oppressing and depressing rule of the Nazis over Germany. I think that with Hitler being the Führer, all of the people opposed to him were just sad, which made someone like Liesel, being Jewish, sad. I think this is why Liesel sees the world as cold and dark and sad, and isn't very saddened by seeing her brother die. I find Liesel to be in a sort of trance where she's just sad and is ready to accept more sadness to come. I think Hitler is the direct cause of this and though he hasn't been formally introduced in the book, because Liesel stated the time period as 1939 and that she's in Germany I can tell that Hitler is the Führer, and is clearly making Liesel pessimistic and see the world as a cold dark place where nothing matters. 

I think in the real world this oppression still exists religiously. While there isn't severe persecution of one certain religion people still can look down upon one thinking that it's wrong or immoral. Even just being forced by a parent to believe something would be oppression, and this is still all nothing compared to Hitler hating one religion enough to attempt to kill them all. I think that The Book Thief is Historical Fiction although Liesel Meminger didn't exist (I think) but the time period and everything about Hitler and the Holocaust are true, but still relates to our world so much because these problems are still existent and still happen. 

Ed is the Hope

I'm almost done reading I am The Messenger by Marcus Zusak. The protagonist, Ed Kennedy, is a 19 year old cabdriver, who gets playing cards (specifically aces) in the mail giving him missions, through riddles. It becomes very clear that all of these missions are to make people happy, or make their lives better.

I think that Ed is the symbol of hope, because everything he does makes families and people so happy, and give them hope and faith in other people and humanity. Ed starts off by not caring about anyone or anything, being perfectly happy with his life as terrible as it was. After the first ace Ed doesn't care at all, I think that was because he just didn't want to do anything or have to care about someone else. The first ace forced him to see the social injustices in his world, and made him aware of what other people have to deal with on a daily basis. He sees a woman repeatedly raped, a lonely old woman, and a girl named Sophie trying to achieve her dreams facing poverty. I think he helped the old woman because he felt bad from his own family issues with his mother that he just wanted to help, and after feeling like he had a really caring mother, found he had actually made a difference to the woman, Milla. I think after this Ed felt like he might be worth something. Sophie wanted to be an athlete, specifically in track and field, and Ed saw that she thought she wasn't good enough because of her junky running shoes, so he gave her an empty box, after seeing her run barefoot in the morning. I thought this was such a great gift, because he knew that she really didn't need fancy expensive shoes to make her a great athlete, and this made me really happy seeing Ed make an actual difference in Sophie's life, even after she doesn't win the race while barefoot. When Ed finally returns to the abusive husband and almost kills him, he realizes that he isn't some prophet, or some great man going out to save humanity and bring hope. He think he's just as worthless again, and I really disagreed with him. I thought that Ed was really noble, after letting the man live, but scaring him out of the town. After the first ace I really saw Ed grow as a character, into what I saw as a symbol of hope. He was finally seeing his purpose, though he kept on driving his cab, and took this as a great opportunity to go ahead and take action against the social injustices he was seeing in the world around him.

In my life, to make a positive change, I've done charity work. My friend Akash started a charity called Kids For a Better Future several years ago, and I've repeatedly volunteered for that over and over. Last year we sponsored Seeds of Peace, which helps children living in the Middle East. Through fundraising I was not given an actual mission or an actual problem, but I was given the problems in the Middle East, and by fundraising, raised several thousand dollars for Seeds of Peace, and gave a little push towards helping resolve those conflicts, without having a specific direct conflict to resolve, but just to spread hope and make little things better like Ed did.

http://www.seedsofpeace.org

Shouldn't They Be Sad?

In Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles, two children living in the south adventure through town on a summer day as civil rights begin to stir and change everything. I noticed that this inequality of race doesn't really make anyone sad which confused me.

John Henry isn't allowed in the general store. He doesn't seem to mind standing outside while Joe goes in to get Ice Pops for them. I wonder if because life has always been like this for John Henry and his family that he doesn't think of life any other way. He doesn't want to stand up for his rights, and he doesn't want to make a big scene trying to change everything. He's fine with Joe going into the store and he doesn't get upset over it. Joe doesn't think much of his friend having to stand outside, it's almost tradition. Later on when Joe and John Henry see the pool as it closes, John Henry makes a transition from apathy to action, as he later goes in the general store with Joe to show that he isn't afraid, and won't have his opportunities denied because of his race.

I think that John Henry doesn't care at the beginning of the book because he doesn't realize how unfair segregation is. If he was an adult wandering through the town on his own he would see how intense the segregation was and how unfair it really was. I'm sure John Henry's mother tells him some things about how it isn't fair for them but I'm sure he doesn't know a lot of things and because of this he isn't so frustrated by this until the pool closes. The pool closing is an emotional climax for John Henry because he really wanted to swim in the pool and forget about the unfairness in the south and be just like Joe. He wanted to do everything Joe could do, with Joe, but because of the racial segregation John Henry cannot, and is upset by this. I think John Henry wants revenge, in a mild way. He wants to stand up for his rights and get revenge by swimming in that pool or going into the general store with Joe. When the pool closes, John Henry obviously can't swim in it now and I felt like that motivated him to go into the general store.

I've not been allowed to do certain things but not because of race, only because of age. For example, I can't drive. This is nowhere near not being able to swim in a pool or go into a store but it's something that eventually I can do. John Henry would not be able to one day swim in that pool. John Henry wouldn't just be able to go into the general store one day. This is his life and how it will always be whereas I, as I grow older, will have even more opportunities.